Mother of 14-year-old stabbed to death on London bus ‘not surprised’ he was killed

The mother of a 14-year-old boy who was stabbed to death on a bus in southeast London has said she is not surprised he was killed.

Aspiring rapper Kelyan Bokassa was stabbed to death on a bus in Woolwich Church Street, close to the Woolwich Ferry, just before 2.30pm on Tuesday.

His mother Mary Bokassa said he had been groomed by gangs from the age of six.

She told the BBC her boy was “caring” but had experienced some “extremely challenging times” and had been taken into care for several years.

Ms Bokassa said he was “underweight, very hungry, tattooed and exposed to drugs”.

But she added they had spent Christmas together and he had returned to school.

She said she had asked for help and tried to stop him from associating with gangs but did not receive support from the authorities, so he “still had one foot on the streets”.

Ms Bokassa told the broadcaster she was traumatised and shocked by her son’s death, but not surprised: “I feel hurt because I tried to prevent it. I’ve tried so many, so many times. I screamed it, I said ‘my son is going to be killed’.”

Around 40 mourners gathered at a vigil on Wednesday evening at St Mary Magdalene Church, which overlooks the bus stop where Kelyan died.

One of Kelyan’s friends paid tribute to him during the service, saying he would “always be there for you”.

“He was a fun guy. He had a pure heart. He would always be there for you,” the teenage boy said.

He joked about Kelyan eating “bare food”.

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Anti-knife campaigner Faron Paul called for more support and opportunities for those affected by violence.

Speaking of Kelyan’s loved ones, Mr Paul said: “If there’s anybody in here from the local government, if there’s anybody here from the council, from the government, really do try and make sure that you take the time and give them long-term support.

He added: “These guys are really young and it’s causing more long-term effects with other people getting involved trying to get revenge.”

He said youth violence was a “vicious circle”.

On Wednesday a man who was meant to film a music video with Kelyan later this month told Sky News he was “just like a cool kid”.

Roy, founder of Outchea TV, said: “He seemed… wiser for his age, and I just got speaking to him about his music career, he said he’s just started and wanted to carry on doing music.

“The worst thing is that he was telling me about his friend that passed away not long ago.”

Police have urged anyone with information about the stabbing to come forward.

Ten teenagers were killed in London last year, according to the PA news agency. Nine of those were stabbed while one was shot.

The figure was a fall from 21 teenage deaths in the capital in 2023.